The Reactionaries (band)

The Reactionaries were a new wave/punk rock band from San Pedro, California who are much more notable for the band three-quarters of the group became later, The Minutemen.

Related Topics:
New wave - Punk rock - San Pedro, California - The Minutemen

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The band formed in 1978 with vocalist Martin Tamburovich, guitarist D. Boon, bassist Mike Watt, and drummer George Hurley. The group existed for most of 1978, practicing regularly but rarely if ever performing live, as at the time San Pedro was more receptive to classic rock cover bands than to original acts, and nearby Los Angeles' punk scene was not yet prepared to take a band from San Pedro seriously. One band that did take the group seriously was another struggling L.A. punk band, Black Flag.

Related Topics:
Martin Tamburovich - D. Boon - Mike Watt - George Hurley - Classic rock - Cover bands - Black Flag

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The group broke up in mid-1979, and Watt, Boon, and Hurley formed the Minutemen almost immediately afterward. Tamburovich's influence and input remained with his friends and former bandmates for the whole of the Minutemen's existence; Watt, Boon, and Tamburovich co-founded New Alliance Records in 1980; Tamburovich would contribute lyrics to several Minutemen songs and sometimes travel with the band as a roadie.

Related Topics:
New Alliance Records - Roadie

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

No formal studio recordings of The Reactionaries exist, but a demo recording (possibly from a rehearsal tape) made in January 1979 of the song "Tony Gets Wasted In Pedro" appears on the Minutemen's odds-and-sods compilation album The Politics of Time, first released in 1984 on New Alliance. When Tamburovich died of a bacterial infection in 2003, Watt played "Tony Gets Wasted In Pedro" in tribute to his friend on his internet radio show The Watt From Pedro Show.

Related Topics:
The Politics of Time - 1984 - 2003 - The Watt From Pedro Show

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 2005 several more unreleased Reactionaries songs were provided for free download by Watt to the fan audio site Corndogs.org.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~